JULY 2000
1 July 2000 Saturday
Actor Walter Matthau died today. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor in Billy Wilder's 'The Fortune Cookie' in 1966 but my favorite film was
the comedy 'The Odd Couple' with Jack Lemmon.
4 July 2000 Tuesday
July is really hard of Priscilla as fireworks
just about freaks her out so badly. Mike took off yesterday so he had a four
day weekend to go to Rawlins and Cheyenne.
7 July 2000 Friday
The Salt Lake Tribune Gay Conference Tackles
Dynamics of Racism Workshop scenarios explore ways to recognize oppression,
improve race relations personally BY
PEGGY FLETCHER STACK THE SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE
It was a conference on
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered issues, but the workshop topic on
Saturday was racism. A non-sequitur? Hardly.
"You cannot address one form of oppression without looking at all
of them," Christa Kriesel, who helped facilitate the session, told the 12
participants gathered for the workshop at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Salt
Lake City. They were among about 50 youths from Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New
Mexico, Arizona and California who were attending the first western regional
conference of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition of Washington, D.C., to be
held in Utah. In the session on racism,
facilitator Kriesel, director of Open and Affirming Sexual Orientation/Gender
Identity Support (OASOS) in Boulder, Col., was joined by Stan Skonik, co-chair
for EQUAL (Empowered Queers United for Absolute Liberation) -- a group at
Colorado College in Colorado Springs -- and also by Shae Brennon, of OASOS. It
was a workshop specifically aimed at "white folks," organizers said,
who enjoy "white privilege," defined as: "advantages, rewards
and benefits given to those in the dominant group [white people]. These
advantages are bestowed unintentionally, unconsciously and automatically and
are often invisible to the receiver." The participants (all white) were
given a list of ways in which they might be oppressors or oppressed -- gender,
race, ethnicity, ability, religion, sexual orientation, class, age, sex, or
language -- and asked to find themselves on one or the other lists. Then they
were paired up and, in two-minute sequences, asked to consider the following
questions: How does it feel to be in an oppressed group? How does it feel to be
an oppressor? What would you like to tell people who oppress you to do in order
to become your ally? Then the entire
group was asked to consider how they could help people of color to see them as
allies. The group had a wide-ranging conversation about how to improve race relations
personally and institutionally. Some said it would never happen until all white
people acknowledge their own racism and that it is a racist society in every
way. "We have to own our own racism," one man said. A woman argued
that sometimes such "owning" only produces guilt and guilt can be
immobilizing. The group discussed
extending circles of friendship to include more people of color, rather than
simply going out to find "one black friend," since such a move is
offensive and dehumanizing to the person. The 90-minute workshop did not
produce unanimity or even general consensus, but all seemed to agree that
racism -- like homophobia -- would never be eliminated until all
"oppressors" (those people who hold power) fully examine their motives
and try to understand the feelings and life experiences of the
"oppressed."
8 July 2000 Saturday
The Salt Lake Tribune Meeting Spotlights Gay
Utah Young people gather for regional conference; Gay Teens From Region Gather
in S.L. BY HEATHER MAY THE SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE
Utah is probably the
last place you would expect to find a conference for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered youth.
Students have sued the Salt Lake City School District for the right to
form a gay issues club, and the state recently barred gays and lesbians from
adopting children or being foster parents.
Then
again, such issues may be why the National Youth Advocacy Coalition of
Washington, D.C., held a western regional conference for the first time in
Utah.
About
50 youths from Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona and California
gathered at the Salt Lake Hilton on Friday to talk about the issues they face,
to network and to learn how to organize others to get involved in a broad
agenda of civil rights issues. The conference continues today.
"It's a really awkward place for the conference . . . with the
extremely conservative atmosphere we have here in Salt Lake," said Arik
Herman, who helped organize the gathering as the president of Y!, a Utah gay
and lesbian youth group in Salt Lake City.
But,
he added, "We felt it was appropriate and time that gay youth and youth
issues were brought to the attention of Salt Lake."
The
conference is the second western regional conference for the national group;
the first was held last year in Denver. Some of the issues the conference
addresses are relationships, health, violence and racism.
Leaders of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition initially questioned
the location of the conference, but now the fit seems right.
"The young people here are defining the agenda," said Craig
Bowman, the coalition's executive director.
For
example, students at East High School have sued the Salt Lake City School
District several times since 1996 after it banned all clubs to prevent
associations organized around gay and lesbian issues. The students got their
first break in April when a federal judge ordered the district to temporarily
allow them to meet. School board members may now rewrite their club policy in
hope of settling the lawsuit.
The
conference is also a good way to challenge the stereotypes the rest of the
country has about gay Utahns -- mainly that they don't exist.
"Utah has a very large, though very underground queer
community," said Mary Callis, with the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of
Utah.
"I've encountered people [who say], 'Oh, you're from Utah? I didn't
know there were gay people there.'
"They don't realize how extensive our issues are."
The
issues include recent laws that prevent gays, lesbians and single people from
adopting from state and private agencies, or from becoming foster parents. The
Utah youth at the conference also include the push to make English Utah's
official language and Utah's curfew and smoking laws as attacks on their
rights.
Suicide among gay youth in Utah is also a problem, according to
Herman: "We lose kids every day and
a lot of it is because of the conservative environment. Kids here [who are]
facing issues . . . feel ashamed."
The
problems faced by youth in other Western states are just as difficult: the
shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, the fatal beating of Matthew
Shepard in Wyoming, and the dragging death of James Byrd, a black man from
Texas. While the deaths don't all relate to homosexuality, they are counted by
conference members as issues youth must get involved in.
But
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth in the West are particularly
difficult to organize. The obstacles include geography, lack of resources and
natural dips in membership. It also might be harder to come out in small states
like Utah or Idaho, Herman said. Membership in Y!, for example, has dropped
from 150 to 30 this year.
"One of our favorite sayings is 'Utah is only big as a dime.' You
can meet everyone really fast," he said, meaning word moves quickly across
the state when someone comes out of the closet. "It's easier to stand back
and not be involved."
9 July 2000 Sunday
The Salt Lake Tribune Gay Conference Tackles
Dynamics of Racism Workshop scenarios explore ways to recognize oppression,
improve race relations personally BY PEGGY FLETCHER STACK THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
It was a conference on
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered issues, but the workshop topic on
Saturday was racism. A non-sequitur?
Hardly.
"You cannot address one form of oppression without looking at all
of them," Christa Kriesel, who helped facilitate the session, told the 12
participants gathered for the workshop at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Salt
Lake City.
They
were among about 50 youths from Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona and
California who were attending the first western regional conference of the
National Youth Advocacy Coalition of Washington, D.C., to be held in Utah.
In
the session on racism, facilitator Kriesel, director of Open and Affirming
Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Support (OASOS) in Boulder, Col., was joined
by Stan Skonik, co-chair for EQUAL (Empowered Queers United for Absolute
Liberation) -- a group at Colorado College in Colorado Springs -- and also by
Shae Brennon, of OASOS.
It
was a workshop specifically aimed at "white folks," organizers said,
who enjoy "white privilege," defined as: "advantages, rewards
and benefits given to those in the dominant group [white people]. These
advantages are bestowed unintentionally, unconsciously and automatically and
are often invisible to the receiver."
The
participants (all white) were given a list of ways in which they might be
oppressors or oppressed -- gender, race, ethnicity, ability, religion, sexual
orientation, class, age, sex, or language -- and asked to find themselves on
one or the other lists.
Then
they were paired up and, in two-minute sequences, asked to consider the
following questions: How does it feel to be in an oppressed group? How does it
feel to be an oppressor? What would you like to tell people who oppress you to
do in order to become your ally?
Then
the entire group was asked to consider how they could help people of color to
see them as allies. The group had a wide-ranging conversation about how to
improve race relations personally and institutionally.
Some
said it would never happen until all white people acknowledge their own racism
and that it is a racist society in every way.
"We have to own our own racism," one man said.
A
woman argued that sometimes such "owning" only produces guilt and
guilt can be immobilizing.
The
group discussed extending circles of friendship to include more people of
color, rather than simply going out to find "one black friend," since
such a move is offensive and dehumanizing to the person.
The
90-minute workshop did not produce unanimity or even general consensus, but all
seemed to agree that racism -- like homophobia -- would never be eliminated
until all "oppressors" (those people who hold power) fully examine
their motives and try to understand the feelings and life experiences of the
"oppressed."
16 July 2000 Sunday
There
was a Total Lunar Eclipse that lasted almost 2 hours.
19 July 2000 Wednesday
Schools May Restore
Nonacademic Clubs By Heather May, The Salt Lake Tribune Clubs, not just
scholarly clubs, could be making a comeback in Salt Lake City schools as soon
as September. Members of the Salt Lake City school board appear to be on the
verge of ending their four-year ban on nonacademic clubs. While board members did not make any
decisions Tuesday night during their regular board meeting, they did review two
possible club policies that would allow students to form academic and
nonacademic clubs. "East High
and other schools are suffering because of the absence of these clubs,"
said Nate McConkie, East High's student body president, and one of seven students
and parents who lobbied the board to end the ban. Students in Salt Lake can't
beef up their resumés or college applications with lists of clubs they have
joined or led, speakers noted. And
perhaps even worse, without clubs many students have no way of connecting to
their schools, said Katie Van Dusen, student body vice president of East
High. She said 75 percent of East
students don't participate in school activities. School board members will
discuss club policy again Aug. 1. The
policies they are currently reviewing make a distinction between academic and
nonacademic clubs. For instance, only
students from a particular school can join nonacademic clubs, while students
from throughout the district can join academic clubs. And while teachers sponsor academic clubs,
they "monitor" nonacademic clubs.
One draft of the policy doesn't give club members’ equal access to the
school's media. For example, members of
nonacademic clubs could advertise their meetings on one bulletin board while
the scholarly clubs would have access to bulletin boards, the school newspaper
and the PA system. That doesn't seem
right to at least one board member.
"I feel like they should be treated the same," said Ila Rose
Fife. Board member Cliff Higbee
disagreed, saying he didn't want a club dealing with homosexuality to have the
same access as other clubs. "I
don't believe the Gay lesbian lifestyle ought to be talked about or sponsored
by our schools. That is not a morally
proper thing to allow in our schools," he said. Board members proposed ending the
district's ban against nonacademic clubs last month. In June they learned the state's
self-insurance agency might not pay for them to defend the policy in a
civil-rights lawsuit brought by two East High students last April. They wanted to form an academic club called
PRISM to discuss Gay issues but were denied by the district in January. The students then sued and a federal judge
forced the district to allow PRISM to meet before school ended in May, pending
the outcome of the lawsuit. School board
members are hoping the students will drop the suit if the district allows
nonacademic clubs. The district banned
such clubs in 1996 because they wanted to prevent students from forming a
Gay-straight alliance.
21 July 2000 Friday
Death Penalty Case: I have been thrilled and
encourage recently by your enlightened and informative articles pertaining to
the death penalty. The latest (Sunday,
July 2), dealing with our state's death row reflecting national disparities, I
read with great interest. I do feel,
however, reporter Greg Burton's perfect example of proportionate disparate
action and the death penalty would have been that of Joseph Mitchell Parson,
not Ronald Watkins Lafferty (though Utah County Mormons do make me raise an
eyebrow). Mr. Parson was executed by the
state of Utah on October 15, 1999. His
act of "reflex overruling reason," as he described it, coupled with
the crime having occurred in a jurisdiction where there were no pioneer family
ties made him a perfect "skin to hang" on the Iron County Attorney's
belt. Mr. Parson felt his death only
served one purpose and that was "to quench the thirst for vengeance." In retrospect, as a person involved in the
case at the onset in 1987 in the capacity of serologist and hair and fiber
examiner with the Utah State Crime Laboratory who was also present at the scene
in Iron County among others, I feel the sentence of death after only a
sentencing hearing was a titch excessive for a case of road rage over homosexual
advances. It came as quite a shock when
Scott Burns informed me of the outcome -- as I had returned to Salt Lake City
before the jury returned. Never had I
thought this was a death penalty case. Thank you again for keeping the torch of
truth and reason burning. Please, stop
the killing, all of it! MARTHA KERR
Utah State Crime Laboratory (1980s)
Bountiful
24 July 2000 Monday
We left
Rawlins after lunch saying goodbye to Mike’s folks and we were home by 8. I don’t
know who is more glad to be home me or the pups. Unfortunately we didn’t miss
the fireworks in the neighborhood which just scares Priscilla to death.
In
the news Pope John Paul II died today.
He was a Polish and grew up during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
31 July 2000 Monday
The Republican National Convention started
today in Philadelphia. Iwon’t watch a bit of it as its just hype and lies about
President Clinton. It’s a foregone conclusion they are nominating George W Bush
from Texas and Dick Cheney from Wyoming
AUGUST 2000
5 August
2000 Saturday
Sir
Alec Guinness died today in Midhurst, West Sussex at the age of 86. He had
recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. My favorite film with him playing
King Charles I in the movie Cromwell. I suspect he will be mostly remembered
for being Obie Wan Kanobi un Star Wars,
Sunstone
Symposium took place in the Marriot
Hotel downtown Salt Lake (75 South West Temple). Several sessions of the
Symposium, were Gay-themed or presented by Gay-friendly people. A one-day
registration is $25 ($12 for students with ID), a half-day registration is $12,
and a one session registration is $5. Notice especially the following Saturday
(August 5) sessions: 10:00 AM. Jay Bell & Robert Rees: Remembering the Gay
Suicides, a Memorial
Session
to remember Stuart Matis and DJ Thompson. 10:00 AM. Hugo Olaiz: The Emergence
of Mormon Cult Movies. Session chaired by Manuel Maraví, comments by Matt
Workman. 11:15 AM. Michael Quinn: Prelude to "Defense of Marriage"
Campaign: Civil Discrimination Against Despised Minorities. 2:15 PM. Robert J.
Christensen: Assessing the "Can Change" Ideology. Session chaired by
Ryan Nay. 3:30 PM. Mac Madsen: Homosexuality and the Church: Perspectives of an
LDS Father. Session chaired by Kim Suanders. 4:45 PM. Roger Leishman: How Being
a Mormon Missionary Made Me an ACLU Lawyer. Gary Stewart: My Mormon Mission,
1957-1959. Session chaired by Bruce Jensen.
6
August 2000-The Salt Lake Tribune Page: B2 Mormon Pamphlets on Gays Criticized
Parents share their struggles at annual Sunstone Symposium BY HILARY GROUTAGE
SMITH THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE David Hardy, a former
Mormon bishop no longer active in the LDS church, has a message for leaders of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Stop giving kids pamphlets
that promote misunderstanding about homosexuality. At the 26th Annual Sunstone
Symposium Saturday, Hardy, his wife, Carlie, and son, Judd, shared the struggle
they have had with their Mormon faith since Judd told them he is Gay and
attempted suicide as a teen. "I thought if I was truly religious, I would
be able to get over this," Judd Hardy said. "I can't describe what
kind of vicious cycle that puts in place.''
Neither prayer nor reparative therapy helped Judd. Compounding the
struggle, his father said, were pamphlets given to his son and countless other
young Mormon men and women. They are outdated, said Hardy, and contain
misinformation that adds to the anxiety felt by young LDS people who are Gay or
lesbian. "In private talks with many general authorities and other church
leaders, we tend to hear conciliatory words and expressions of love for our Gay
and lesbian sons and daughters," David Hardy said. "But for every
off-the-record statement of one of the brethren attempting to evidence a
'kinder and gentler' attitude toward Gays and lesbians in the Church, there
exists the enormous weight of the written word that is publicly disseminated to
the membership." For the Strength
of Youth, To Young Men Only and To The One pamphlets have been handed out to
young men and women for years, Hardy said. All contain advice for dealing with
homosexual feelings. Two of the
pamphlets, To The One and To Young Men Only, were written by President Boyd K.
Packer, senior member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In the latter publication, Packer instructs
young men to "vigorously resist" men who try to entice them to join
in "immoral acts." Hardy said a vignette in the booklet, in which
Packer tells the story of a missionary who strikes his companion, presumably
after the young man made a sexual advance toward him, promotes violence against
homosexuals. "I am not recommending that course to you," Packer
wrote, "but I am not omitting it. You must protect yourself."
"Some of these works are over 20 years old, but the fact that they are
still in print and distributed is attested to by the new Church logo
prominently displayed on the back cover," Hardy said. The Mormon Church
redesigned its logo in December 1995. "As far as church members know,
these works collectively constitute the definitive written policy and doctrine
of the Church on the issue of homosexuality. They are written -- and therefore
enduring -- word of the brethren," Hardy said. Reached by telephone on
Saturday, Mormon Church Spokesman Dale Bills did not comment specifically on
the pamphlets, but said President Gordon B. Hinckley has repeatedly expressed
compassion and concern when asked about his church's attitude toward
homosexuals. Bills, quoting Hinckley, said the prophet's "caring words
speak for themselves: Our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as
Gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God. They
are welcome in the Church. It is expected, however, that they follow the same
God-given rules of conduct that apply to everyone else, whether single or
married." For Hardy, the growing gap between the church he and his family
loved and the church's attitude toward homosexuals became impossible to
reconcile. Eventually, they stopped going to church, and so did five of their
six children. But that doesn't mean he has stopped believing, David Hardy said.
"The fact that we're not attending doesn't mean we don't believe the
teachings and the doctrine [of the Mormon faith]. We just can't square with
ourselves with what is going on."
6 August
2000 Sunday
Sunstone
Symposium. Salt Lake Marriot Hotel. Sunstone Symposium will take place in the
Marriot Hotel downtown Salt Lake (75 South West Temple). Several sessions of
the Symposium, especially on Saturday, will be gay-themed or presented by gay-friendly
people. A one-day registration is $25 ($12 for students with ID), a half-day
registration is $12, and a one session registration is $5. Notice especially
the following Saturday (August 5) sessions:
10:00 AM. Jay Bell & Robert Rees: Remembering the
Gay Suicides, a Memorial Session to remember Stuart Matis and DJ Thompson.
10:00 AM. Hugo Olaiz: The Emergence of Mormon Cult
Movies. Session chaired
by
Manuel Maraví, comments by Matt Workman.
11:15 AM. Michael Quinn: Prelude to "Defense of
Marriage" Campaign: Civil Discrimination Against Despised Minorities.
2:15 PM. Robert J. Christensen: Assessing the
"Can Change" Ideology. Session chaired by Ryan Nay.
3:30 PM. Mac Madsen: Homosexuality and the Church:
Perspectives of an LDS Father. Session chaired by Kim Suanders.
4:45 PM. Roger Leishman: How Being a Mormon Missionary
Made Me an ACLU
Lawyer.
Gary Stewart: My Mormon Mission, 1957-1959. Session chaired by Bruce Jensen.
Saturday, August 5. 7:00 pm - After Sunstone barbecue
and potluck at Duane’s. B.Y.O.M and a potluck dish. Please R.S.V.P. by August 4
- no exceptions
Sunday, Aug 6, 5:00pm - Pot luck social at
Metropolitan Community Church, 823 S 600 E in Salt Lake. As usual, drinks and
utensils will be provided. Please bring a dish to share with the rest of us,
but most importantly, bring yourself. David Knowlton will do his workshop in September
instead of August--he has to be out of town this Sunday.
The
Salt Lake Tribune Mormon Pamphlets on Gays Criticized Parents share their struggles
at annual Sunstone Symposium BY HILARY GROUTAGE SMITH THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
David Hardy, a former Mormon bishop no longer active
in the LDS church, has a message for leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints: Stop giving kids pamphlets that promote misunderstanding
about homosexuality.
At the 26th Annual Sunstone Symposium
Saturday, Hardy, his wife, Carlie, and son, Judd, shared the struggle they have
had with their Mormon faith since Judd told them he is gay and attempted suicide
as a teen.
"I thought if I was truly religious, I
would be able to get over this," Judd Hardy said. "I can't describe
what kind of vicious cycle that puts in place.''
Neither prayer nor reparative therapy helped
Judd. Compounding the struggle, his father said, were pamphlets given to his
son and countless other young Mormon men and women. They are outdated, said
Hardy, and contain misinformation that adds to the anxiety felt by young LDS
people who are gay or lesbian.
"In private talks with many general
authorities and other church leaders, we tend to hear conciliatory words and
expressions of love for our gay and lesbian sons and daughters," David
Hardy said. "But for every off-the-record statement of one of the brethren
attempting to evidence a 'kinder and gentler' attitude toward gays and lesbians
in the Church, there exists the enormous weight of the written word that is
publicly disseminated to the membership."
For the Strength of Youth, To Young Men Only
and To The One pamphlets have been handed out to young men and women for years,
Hardy said. All contain advice for dealing with homosexual feelings.
Two of the pamphlets, To The One and To
Young Men Only, were written by President Boyd K. Packer, senior member of the
church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In the latter publication, Packer instructs
young men to "vigorously resist" men who try to entice them to join
in "immoral acts." Hardy said a vignette in the booklet, in which
Packer tells the story of a missionary who strikes his companion, presumably
after the young man made a sexual advance toward him, promotes violence against
homosexuals.
"I am not recommending that course to
you," Packer wrote, "but I am not omitting it. You must protect
yourself."
"Some of these works are over 20 years
old, but the fact that they are still in print and distributed is attested to
by the new Church logo prominently displayed on the back cover," Hardy
said. The Mormon church redesigned its logo in December 1995.
"As far as church members know, these
works collectively constitute the definitive written policy and doctrine of the
Church on the issue of homosexuality. They are written -- and therefore
enduring -- word of the brethren," Hardy said.
Reached by telephone on Saturday, Mormon
Church Spokesman Dale Bills did not comment specifically on the pamphlets, but
said President Gordon B. Hinckley has repeatedly expressed compassion and
concern when asked about his church's attitude toward homosexuals.
Bills, quoting Hinckley, said the prophet's
"caring words speak for themselves: Our hearts reach out to those who
refer to themselves as gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and
daughters of God. They are welcome in the Church. It is expected, however, that
they follow the same God-given rules of conduct that apply to everyone else,
whether single or married."
For Hardy, the growing gap between the
church he and his family loved and the church's attitude toward homosexuals
became impossible to reconcile. Eventually, they stopped going to church, and
so did five of their six children.
But that doesn't mean he has stopped
believing, David Hardy said. "The fact that we're not attending doesn't
mean we don't believe the teachings and the doctrine [of the Mormon faith]. We
just can't square with ourselves with what is going on."
7 August
2000 Tuesday
Al
Gore chose Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman is the first Jewish candidate to be
nominated for national executive office on a major party ticket, marking a
significant milestone in Democratic political representation and diversity.
12 August
2000 Saturday
Actress
Loretta Young died today. She was so pretty in her heydays in the movies of the
30’s and 40’s. She had an illegitimate child
with Clark Gable in the 1930s that was hushed up not to ruin their careers.
13 August
2000 Sunday
Affirmation
held it’s Ogden Meeting. Tracy Faulkner & Marilyn's Johnson’s house complete
with
hot tub and BBQ. We will brainstorm on future Ogden meetings.
COURT
SAYS BOY SCOUT POLICY IS LEGAL, BUT IS IT APPROPRIATE? Salt Lake Tribune, BY
GARY M. WATTS
As co-chairman of Family Fellowship, a support group
primarily for Mormon parents of Gays and lesbians, I have been asked several
times about my feelings surrounding the recent Supreme Court decision in the
Boy Scouts of America vs. James Dale case.
As readers are undoubtedly aware, the Supreme Court
overturned an earlier decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court that had found
the Boy Scout policy of excluding Gays from leadership positions in violation
of New Jersey's state public accommodations statute. The very fact that the New
Jersey Supreme Court and four of the nine justices of the Supreme Court
dissented from the majority opinion indicates the complexity of the legal
issues involved.
On July 16, A. Dean Byrd published an op-ed essay in
The Salt Lake Tribune trumpeting his view that the Supreme Court's decision was
correct in affirming the Boy Scouts' right of free expression and free
association under the Constitution's First Amendment. His essay has prompted me to respond and
express my views publicly since they differ rather dramatically from his.
I was not surprised by the decision. If I were a Supreme Court justice, I may well
have joined the majority opinion since I believe forced membership is generally
inappropriate.
My concern with Byrd's essay is not with the rightness
or the wrongness of the legal decision but with his attitude that the Boy Scout
policy of excluding Gays and lesbians is not only legal but also justifiable
and appropriate.
The great tragedy of the Boy Scout decision to me is
that some will take it as justification for their ongoing prejudice and
exclusion of Gays. People may not understand that the court decision does not
mean the court approves the policy, only that the Boy Scouts have a right to
their policy. It will tend to perpetuate the myth that homosexuality is chosen,
changeable and contagious.
As long as people cling to that view, we will continue
to see these efforts to discriminate and literally try to scare young people
into hiding and being ashamed of their sexual orientation. Our young people
deserve better from us.
When they are 14 or 15 they need to know that every
school, every church, every community has young people growing up there who
have same-sex attractions that are just there, that have nothing to do with
sin.
Gay people are very much like straight people. They are just as capable of moral
behavior.
The Boy Scout policy basically says that any openly
Gay person is a threat to young boys and can't be trusted. That, my friends, is wrong and terribly
misguided.
There are some Gay men that would not be good Scout
leaders, just as there are some straight men who would not. To suggest that all Gay men be automatically
disqualified from leadership positions is an affront to them and to those of us
who know them best; parents and family members of Gays. We know our children --
they are not a threat to anyone simply because of their sexual orientation.
Can you imagine what it is like in this state to be
growing up Gay or lesbian, knowing that if you are a Scout, and thousands are,
that you are not wanted, that you would not be trusted to ever be a
leader?
Science tells us that these young people are just
figuring out at that age or before that they are attracted not to the opposite
sex, but to their own. Is it any wonder
that these teen-agers feel a need to hide their same-sex attraction, and that
some of them develop feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem, experiment
with drugs and alcohol and preoccupy themselves with suicidal ideation?
Byrd concludes his essay with the glib assertion that
homosexuality is neither innate nor immutable.
He believes that homosexuality is primarily a psycho-social phenomenon
and supports efforts by psychologists and social workers to
"repair"" or "fix" these individuals with the ultimate
goal of transforming them into healthy, heterosexually marriageable
individuals. He has been the single,
most influential person promoting change therapy in this region, which
unfortunately has become the quasi-official position of LDS Social Services
through its relationship with Evergreen International.
I say unfortunate for a variety of reasons. The great majority of attempts to change or
significantly alter sexual orientation are destined to fail. The process itself is harmful to the
individual and too often involves others who become involved in a relationship
that is based on a false hope.
Case in point:
One of my neighbors in Provo, a man widely respected, found to his
chagrin a few years ago that an LDS counselor who shared Byrd's view in our
community had persuaded a beautiful young woman that she could change her
sexual orientation if she had enough faith.
She unwisely married his son and within a few weeks the marriage had to
be annulled.
Because my wife and I are co-leaders of Family
Fellowship we know of these situations and scores more like them. We have documentation that some young men who
have sought help from LDS Social Services have subsequently been referred to
unethical counselors affiliated with Evergreen International and been subjected
to experimental electric shock and ammonia therapy as recently as 1998. These individuals have been sworn to secrecy,
been treated under assumed names by unidentified counselors, and in at least
one case, threatened with excommunication if he were to leave the therapy after
one week of treatment.
Anyone can go to our Family Fellowship Web page
(www.ldsfamilyfellowship.org) and find there the evidence of this malpractice
and the utter absence of support for the glib, easy promises of change offered
by such therapists. It is clear to me and most other professionals that
whatever the causes, homosexuality is experienced honestly and involuntarily by
Gay people. Homosexuality is not chosen; it is discovered.
Despite Byrd's assertion that homosexuality is
amenable to change, there is overwhelming scientific evidence that significant
change is very rare. Readers should be
aware that every professional organization dealing with homosexuals discourages
change therapy and most believe it to be unethical and unprofessional. The only organizations that support change
therapy are religion-based.
Readers should also be aware that there are no
accredited graduate programs in the United States or elsewhere where
professionals can go to be trained in how to change homosexuals into
heterosexuals. If you go to our Web site you can read the official statements
of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association,
and the American Psychiatric Association.
These professional organizations all look at homosexuality not as deviant,
not as sinful, but as a variant of normal. It has been this way for centuries
as any careful study of the matter will show.
Such same-sex attractions are present throughout the
animal kingdom as well and there is nothing mysterious about it. And people do not change. Mark it down, they DO NOT. If they are married and bisexual, as some of
those are who these therapists are treating then, yes, they may be able to
suppress their same-sex feelings and act on their attractions to the opposite
sex, but this does not mean such feelings go away.
We parents have had enough of these empty promises and
enough tormenting of our young people who need support not harassment. Utah is our community also. We grew up here and our children are growing
up here and we need to join the modern world and throw off these unsupported
therapies and therapists who are 20 years behind the times.
In recent weeks, we have seen evidence from within the
Boy Scouts itself that some Scout leaders, parents and Scouts themselves reject
the exclusionary practices that led to the Supreme Court case. Some are beginning to recognize that blanket
exclusion, irrespective of conduct or other qualifications, means that the Boy
Scouts of America should more properly be called the Boy Scouts of
"Some" Americans.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Associated
Press quoted a California Scout leader as follows: "The Boy Scouts, in a weird sort of way,
have been outed. They are out of the
closet. They are a bigoted
organization. I know a lot of my friends
are not going to keep their kids in Scouting." I'm hopeful that many fair-minded friends of
Scouting will raise their voices and begin now to work within the organization
to see that anyexclusionary policy is based on conduct, not on sexual
orientation."
Gary M. Watts, a medical doctor, lives in Provo.
14 August
2000 Monday
Democratic
National Convention began today and I am glued to the television.
UTAH
- BOUNTIFUL HAS A GAY/STRAIGHT ALLIANCE, BUT NO CONTROVERSY Deseret News,Davis
sidesteps Gay-club controversy By Maria Titze, Deseret News staff writer It has
a student club policy. It has a Gay-straight alliance. So why isn't the Davis
School District embroiled in controversy?
Earlier this month, the school board quietly passed a rule for the
authorization of school clubs. There was no public comment and little
discussion among board members through the course of three public
meetings. "It's been pretty much a
non-issue, and I don't really know why," said district policy specialist
Ross Poore. The rule closely follows guidelines approved in 1997 by the State
Board of Education. Non-curricular clubs must be student-directed, supervised
or monitored by a school employee and may not advocate sexual activity outside
of marriage or engage in mental health counseling. "There was nothing that
triggered (the creation of the district policy)," said board president
Barbara Smith. "We just try to review our policies every two years."
District officials say the policy is in no way a response to the formation of a
Gay-straight alliance at Bountiful High School last year” an equally quiet
occurrence. Trent Romijn, who graduated from Bountiful High in June, said he
and his friends met during lunch and considered forming a club. Romijn knew
members of the Gay-straight alliance at East High School in Salt Lake City.
"But I wondered how many people (here) would want to do it," he said.
He was surprised when fellow students approached him with enthusiasm. "It
seemed the more (we) talked about it, the more we wanted to do (a club)."
Romijn said he and his friends weren't looking to "cause any
problems." They approached student body officers about forming the
Gay-Straight Alliance of Davis County. "They told us there was no way it
would get past the principal like that, so we changed the name," he said.
They borrowed the Latin phrase, "e pluribus unum," and prepared to
make a formal proposal for the club. Principal Rulon Homer said he never heard
about the club directly from students. "A couple of my teachers . . .
indicated that (the students) were interested in doing it," he said Homer,
now the principal at Davis High School, said he was first officially contacted
about the club by the local chapter of the Gay, Lesbian Student Education
Network, or GLSEN, a nonprofit organization that sponsors Gay-straight
alliances around the country. "They came to me along with a couple of
teachers at East High and said there were a number of students at Bountiful
High who were interested in forming a club," he said. Homer told them the district
didn't have a school club policy yet but that if everyone followed the school
constitution and state guidelines, it "would not be a big issue." And
it wasn't, primarily because GLSEN was considered by the school to be the
club's sponsor from the beginning, according to Michelle Beus, the Davis
district's legal issues specialist. "Because they had an outside person
sponsor the club, rather than students" they couldn't be recognized as a
school club, Beus said. As a community group, however, they were allowed to
rent space in the school building which they did twice before the end of the
school year. Romijn was surprised to hear that the club's existence hinged on a
question of sponsorship. He said he doesn't see GLSEN as the club's sponsor,
even though it pays the club's building rental fee. "They just helped us
get in there," he said "They help us, but they're not our
sponsor." Romijn said the club has now attracted students from Davis and
Viewmont high schools and boasts a membership of about 25. He intends to be the
club's "supervisor" next year but hasn't yet approached the new
principal at Bountiful High about the club's status and its use of the school
building.
17 August
2000 Thursday
Vice
President Al Gore was nominated unanimously and during the roll-call vote for
president, Florida's delegation was given the honor of putting Gore
over-the-top as the official nominee.
21 August
2000 Monday
Well
summer vacation is over as I went into Orchard this morning. Officially I am not paid until
Wednesday when the contract actually begins but there’s so much to do to get
ready, like putting up bulletin boards, setting up desks, making name tags and
finding out what books I have and what supplies came in that I ordered last
spring. There were a few other teachers
in and out but I mainly stayed by myself.
The
Salt Lake Tribune AIDS Memorial In Utah a Place Of Pain, Healing Memorial Hall
Commemorates AIDS Victims BY BOB MIMS
The Utah AIDS Foundation's Memorial Hall is barely big
enough for two chairs and a few end tables. But in its artwork, photographs and
scrapbooks are bittersweet memories no cathedral could hold.
Smiling snapshots of the dead serve as its icons; scrapbooks of obituaries,
occasionally punctuated with drawings or crushed flowers, comprise the canon of
a deadly worldwide epidemic that is making a resurgence in new victims among
the young -- particularly in Utah.
To the thousands who have visited it, the room is
indeed a sacred place, said Trish Rickers, a foundation staff member who
launched the Memorial Hall at 1408 S. 1100 East in Salt Lake City in
1990. "It started out as a way to deal with my personal grief
[because] you meet so many people here and see them die so soon
afterward," she said. "Then I found other people joining me, bringing
in things about their family members. It seemed to help them, too."
Since reporting
began in 1983, AIDS has claimed 935 Utahns, state health officials say.
Nationally, the disease transmitted by sexual contact, infected blood and
intravenous drug use has killed 437,000 Americans, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, the epidemic has taken 20 million
lives.
But today's AIDS patient has far more hope than
victims of a decade ago. Then, an AIDS diagnosis could mean death in a year or
two; today, new drugs and treatment regimens can, in some cases, stave off the
disease's symptoms for many years. That is cause for both celebration and
consternation, said Doug Brunker, the foundation's programming director. With
hope, he says, has come a return by some -- especially in the gay community --
to the sexual carelessness of years past. Brunker credits fear of the killer
disease and safe sex education campaigns for reversing the AIDS tide in Utah.
In 1993, for example, state health officials reported
247 new cases of AIDS and 103 deaths. By 1996, the total was 187 new cases,
with 80 deaths. The AIDS caseload had
shrunk to a record low of 143, with 28 deaths, in 1998. That same year, doctors
reported only 35 new cases of infection by HIV, the virus that causes the
disease, also a record low mark. Then came 1999. While the number of AIDS cases
increased only slightly to 147, new HIV infections jumped to 50. More
disturbing to Brunker: Just five months into 2000, statistics show 32 new HIV
infections and 61 AIDS diagnoses -- and the majority of those are coming in
Utah's gay community.
Nationally, while the share of AIDS cases involving homosexual men
-- initially the hardest hit segment of society -- dipped to 48 percent this
past May, it remained at 65 percent in Utah. "Actually, it could be a
little higher than 65 percent if we were to add in the men who have sex with
men who aren't sure if they got it from sharing drug needles or sexual contact;
that's another 7 percent," Brunker said. "People trying to experience
their sexuality in a less fear-based environment are switching off that HIV is
something that can affect any of us," he added. "We're also seeing
higher numbers [of infection] among young men."
Indeed, 4 percent of Utah's new HIV infections currently come from
the 13 to 19 age group, four times the national rate. For the 20-29
demographic, it is even worse: That age group accounts for 43 percent of Utah's
new HIV cases, compared to 34 percent nationally. "It is wonderful that
queer kids are coming out earlier and earlier," Brunker said. "At the
same time, though, they are coming out into a world infected by HIV, and not
necessarily prepared to address that."
While AIDS education is available to teens in public schools, with
parental permission, Brunker stresses that it is parents who prove the most
effective teachers -- if they are willing to broach what for many of them is an
uncomfortable subject. "When their kids come out to them, some parents are
shocked and afraid by the disclosure," Brunker said. "But we know
that just having the talk [about HIV and prevention] makes a difference."
To help, he suggests contacting the
foundation (801-487-2323) or other support groups like Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (801-261-4753) and Family Fellowship (801-374-1447), a group
geared to Mormon gays and their families. And maybe a trip to Memorial Hall,
where AIDS takes on names and faces.
Walking into the tiny room, the first thing a visitor
sees is "A Silent War," an oil painting by portrait artist Randall
Lake. At more than three feet wide, the picture rivets the eye with its
haunting depiction of a gaunt, dying man with an IV tube snaking into his arm.
A night stand is next to him, cluttered with medications that failed to divert
the HIV from its destructive course. Another man sits at his bedside, reading
to him, but the patient is beyond listening. Instead, he seems to be staring at
a new arrival to the vigil: you.
"It is,
like the title, a silent war," said Lake, who painted the scene in 1989
following the AIDS death of a friend. "When these people are so sick, they
turn inward. All their energy is used just trying to stabilize their bodies.
Their interest is focused on just surviving the next hour."
On the wall opposite Lake's painting is a patchwork
quilt bearing photo transfers of John W. Baldock, who died of AIDS in 1993. One
epitaph reads "Intelligent and Witty, Caring and Giving," another
"Friend and Companion, Never to be Forgotten."
Amid a collection of framed photos is one of Donald F.
Garrett Jr., who died in 1994. It is accompanied by a poem, which reads in
part: "He's gone on, the rain has ceased. His loving soul has been
released."
Nearby are the
scrapbooks, page after page of brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and
lovers cut down by a modern-day plague: David Sharpton, the foundation's
co-founder, dead in 1992 at age 32; Lynn Topovski, a longtime performer and
director in Utah's Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, gone in 1998 at 46. And, there are the children, like Chance W.
Tingey, claimed by AIDS-related pneumonia in 1994 at age 4, and Tyler Matthew
Hammer, who died on Sept. 26, 1994, a week short of his ninth birthday.
"Today I finally got tired and left this earth," Tyler's
first-person obituary reads. "I met a lot of people that I loved and was
loved back. I always tried to have a smile for everyone."
The experience leaves some visitors emotionally
exhausted, overwhelmed by the sense of loss. But for others, it is a sacred,
healing place.
"It is affirming that despite all the bad stuff
they went through, a lot of these people still lived their lives to the
fullest," Rickers said.
Some day, perhaps, Lake also will find Tyler's obit
and be able to smile back at the tiny face on fading newsprint. He has never
been to the hall to look at his painting, not wanting to revisit the personal
pain associated with its creation.
"I had a good friend, another artist, who was
dying of AIDS. We had this idea that I would paint him like that. But he died
too soon," Lake recalled. "One other model I tried to get also was
diagnosed with AIDS and then he couldn't do it. It was just too hard
emotionally for him." Eventually, he found yet another model,
an emaciated man recovering from surgery. The images flew off his brushes in
six days. "It was already in my head. I just needed to get it on
canvas," said Lake, who is renowned for his still lifes and portraits.
In the decade since he donated the painting,
Lake has lost dozens more gay friends and acquaintances to AIDS.
"I've never been to the Memorial Hall. It's just too close to the bone for
me. I'm still dealing with grief," he said. "There is an aversion to
getting anywhere near an epidemic that has torn me to pieces. I don't seek it
out."
25 August
2000 Friday,
Affirmation
sponsored FNL (Friday Night Lesbian) is here! It's always the last Friday of
the month, from 8:00pm until whenever. All womyn are welcome, whether you are
involved with Affirmation or not. Call Cela (pronounced "CHEL-uhfor more
information. And tell a friend!
27 August
2000 Sunday
The
Provo Affirmation meeting was held , at Gary & Millie Watts’s place. 1763
N. 1500 E. The Salt Lakers will meet at Duane Jennings
28 August
2000 Monday
Well my school year 2000 to 2001
officially began today. I was at school at 7:30 just to make sure everything
was ready. It was so hot today in the classroom that I took the kids out in the
afternoon to sit beneath the trees. Brenda
Tau’a and I both have 29 students so we are even
SEPTEMBER
2000
1 September
2000 Friday
So
glad Monday is labor day as it been so hot in the classroom all this week and
yesterday was Back to School Night so I didn’t get home until after 8 so it was
like a 12 hour day. I think my 4th graders will be okay this year.
It’s hard to tell because they are all on good behavior and are slightly afraid
of me being a male teacher. Mr. Prusse
was the last man teacher in the lower grades but had to deploy during Desert
Storm and after he came back he later left to become a principal. Dan Unger and
I are the only men teachers at Orchard anymore and Unger is in 6th
grade so I am these kids first male teacher.
25 September 2000 Monday
Not
much to write about, just getting back into the routine of school. It’s finally
cooling off in the classroom.
I was sad to read that
Carl Barks died today who unless you are an Uncle Scrooge comic book fan you
wouldn’t know him at all. He was famous for creating Uncle Scrooge and
developing the rich universe of Donald Duck comics. I collected Uncle Scrooge comics for years
and mostly loved the reprints of the Carl Barks adventures to exotic places.
26 September 2000 Tuesday.
Actor Richard Mulligan died today. Liked his
role on Soap back in the 1970s and in the movie 'S.O.B.'
28 September 2000 Thursday
Happy 39th birthday Billy Bikowski
where every you are
29 September 2000 Friday
Affirmation
held their Missionary Reunion, at MCC 823
S 600 E in Salt Lake.
The Salt Lake Tribune State Street Cruiser a
Loser; Court Rejects His Constitutional Appeal of Traffic Ticket BY NESREEN
KHASHAN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Ken Larsen, then a
Libertarian mayoral candidate, became one of the first drivers cited last
summer for violating Salt Lake City's new cruising ordinance.
Larsen, 58, received the ticket a month after the June 1999 passage of
the no-cruising law on State Street, around the same time he vowed publicly to
challenge the law.
Prosecutors say Larsen drew attention to his transgression by waving to
police officers on the night he was cited.
On
Thursday, the Utah Court of Appeals summarily rejected Larsen's claims that the
city's ordinance violated his state and federal constitutional rights.
During arguments in the appellate court, Larsen had "moved up and
down the roster" of constitutional arguments, said city prosecutor T.
Langdon Fisher.
"They were interesting ideas but generally the defense to all
constitutional claims is having a reasonable time, place and manner
restriction," Fisher said.
The
ban is legal for "the same reasons you can't yell fire in a crowded
theater," he said.
Reasoning that gridlocked streets infringe on the rights of non-cruising
residents who need to travel, courts have traditionally upheld cruising
ordinances that are circumspect in what they ban.
The
ban on State Street is from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Larsen could not be reached for comment. But in his brief to the court,
he argued the law deprived youth of their right to participate in "a rite
of passage celebrating freedom, adulthood, and the authority to drive a
car."
He
asserted the ordinance denied equal protection "to the subculture of
cruisers."
Invoking his First Amendment right to practice religion freely, he even
likened cruising to a religious exercise.
"Cruising is no less [deserving of] a constitutional protection of
religion than is Easter egg hunting, Halloween trick-or-treating and Christmas
caroling," Larsen said in one lyrical recitation.
During the 1999 mayoral race, Larsen, an adjunct research associate
professor of medicine at the University of Utah, would dress up like Brigham
Young for public appearances.
Although he is not a homosexual, he applied for a gay marriage license
that was denied, as a way of challenging the gay-marriage ban.
Larsen represented himself on appeal without an attorney, a rare
occurrence in appellate court.
The
move forced Fischer to "flush out his arguments in order to make my own
arguments," the prosecutor said.
"We could not have expected this to be argued on the sophisticated
level that was necessary, but apparently the Court of Appeals wanted to hear
the matter," he said
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